g4 sawtooth won't boot

[max¥¥]

so my pc ftp server starts being a b***h so i put all the drives into my pm g4, press power it chimes, screen is blank, i have followed the 'my mac won't boot guide' so please don't point me to that

 

[zen.state]

If it chimes that means the psu, mobo, cpu and memory are okay. I would guess it's a hard drive or video issue based on the small bit of info you give.

 

[max¥¥]

i'll just add that it started not shutting down if i hold the power button, also the video card just came out another g4 so i think it is fine, i do have a pc sata card in it(not to try too boot on) could that cause the problem

 

[max¥¥]

so i was thinking about 'video issues' and then i remembered that it won't output with dvi to hdmi on my tv "duh" plugged it in with a dvi - vga adapter and i am greeted with the flashing folder as none of the drives are plugged in, i shall be reinstalling in the morning so it will be ready after school

 

[zen.state]

good news!

 

[max¥¥]

can the mac boot of a usb cd drive as i am planning on taking out the dvd drive for space for more hdd's

 

[zen.state]

can the mac boot of a usb cd drive as i am planning on taking out the dvd drive for space for more hdd's

Most macs cannot boot from USB but the Sawtooth is one of the few models that is known to be able to do this. Never tried it but that is what it says on the sawtooth info page @ lowendmac.com. You may have to use the slow built in 1.1 ports. Not sure if a 2.0 PCI card will work for booting.

 

[max¥¥]

i thorough i might as well post the results of my nearly completed g4 ftp server, i have added a 40gb hdd in the zip bay, a usb 2 card (i have 2 usb drives for the server), a usb sata controller (plugged into the internal port on the usb card), and a firewire ata controller (pluged into the internal port on the mac's logic board) i still have one more sata hdd that needs to be plugged in

you can see the horrible old pc server i pulled all the drives from in the corner

 

[666sheep]

What a mess inside Do something with this cabling. Grandpa must look good when will be finished
Do i see R9000 128 MB there? Good card for this oldie

 

[max¥¥]

it's not quit finished, i will tidy it up when i get around to modding a 450w pc psu for the machine so i can run even more drives and yes that is a r9000 128mb card, i brought the g4 from ebay for £40 and i was expecting the stock card, alo would you recommend i add a fan to the top of the g4 to improve cooling